Published 12/6/2022 - Reid Kyle
Exploring the work of 21st Century America’s greatest singer-songwriter.
The greatest artistic expressions have a way of transporting the listener, viewer, or reader to the world existing within the piece itself. Whether that space is a physical location, a moment in time, or perhaps a feeling or a thought, we all have memories of a specific song, book, or movie that moved our consciousness to this conceptual place. For myself, one specific song is “Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)”, the opening track of Sufjan Stevens’ 2003 album Michigan. An isolated piano passage slowly unfolds, eventually allowing for Stevens’ ghostly vocals to portray the depressing economic and quality of life deterioration experienced by the residents of Flint, Michigan. I recall being struck by the gentle and patient feeling of the instrumental and how well it balanced with Stevens’ delicate, impassioned vocals. As Michigan progresses, the listener experiences the great lake state through the perspective of Sufjan Stevens. Although I’ve never visited the state myself, Sufjan Stevens’ immense musical skill, song writing prowess and concept-building ability led me to feel empathy and understanding for the difficulties experienced by Michiganders. The first step to understanding and appreciating your fellow man is often through empathy, and Sufjan Steven creates spaces for empathy within his music. Whether delicate poetry backed by piano or strummed guitar, expansive folk-rock ballads or layered electronic experiments, it is with Sufjan Stevens and his art that I find myself focusing within, recognizing that although the beauty and struggle existing in the world is beyond our control, it is all part of being human.
Following my discovery of Michigan, it only felt right to next tackle Stevens’ 2005 masterpiece Illinois. Conceptually, Illinois continues the themes explored in Michigan, seeing Stevens’ documenting his relationship with the state of Illinois through personal anecdotes and historical references. These personal anecdotes range from his coming-of-age experiences in the state’s largest city in the folk-rock anthem “Chicago”, to the emotional turmoil of losing a childhood friend to bone cancer in the melancholy acoustic cut, “Casimir Pulaski Day”. Many of the tracks within Illinois refer to famous Illinois figures and folklore. Including the chilling tale of Illinois’ most infamous serial killer on “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”, and the intro song “Concerning the UFO Sighting near Highland, Illinois”, paying homage to the extra-terrestrial discoveries made within the Land of Lincoln. Although highly varied sonically, the 22 tracks on the album fit comfortably within the Illinois-centric umbrella, leading to a folk-rock experience unrivalled in the 21st century.
The state-centric conceptual nature of Michigan and Illinois is abandoned in Stevens’ 2010 record The Age of Adz. Stevens does not explore characters, events, or places, rather he focuses on the personal emotions and feelings of an individual. The Age of Adz uses fragmented electronic soundscapes to emphasize the claustrophobic and scattered feelings a person experiences when reflecting on oneself. Some songs, like the opener “Futile Devices”, feature delicate instrumentation and romantic vocals depicting Stevens’ yearning to be with the one he loves. These gentle, unobtrusive tracks represent tender emotions perfectly and are well contrasted by the more bombastic and experimental electronic moments in the track list. Maintaining the orchestral backings of most Stevens’ epics, songs like “Age of Adz” use electronics to bolster this grandiose feeling, exemplifying the chaotic feelings strong emotions exude. The album’s 25-minute closer “Impossible Soul” combines all the themes and sonic palettes explored in The Age of Adz, ending with the refrain of “Boy, we made such a mess together”. With this one statement, Stevens summarizes the complexity and nuances of human emotions and relationships, accepting chaos as a part of the human experience.
Stevens’ next studio album Carrie & Lowell was released in 2015, following the death of his mother Carrie in 2012. Depicting the complicated relationship between his late mother and stepfather Lowell Brams, Carrie & Lowell explores Stevens’ childhood memories and adult reflections on the life of his mother. With abrasive electronics abandoned, the album returns to the sparse indie-folk roots of his earlier works, such as on the lead single “Should Have Known Better”. Accompanied by a gentle plucky guitar and ghostly background vocals, Stevens thinks back to a memory of being abandoned by his mother in a video store. This harrowing memory eventually flips into optimism for the future, with an uplifting melody backing Stevens’ acceptance of his past experiences, while cherishing the belief that his mother lives on in his brother’s newborn daughter. This act of reflecting on past traumas is present in nearly every song on Carrie & Lowell. Although the experiences are centric to Sufjan and his siblings, the lessons and wisdom gained from his introspection are valuable to anyone, as they teach one to not shy away from the feelings and memories that haunt us. Even when it's difficult, understanding how past experiences have shaped you is intrinsic to self-growth and a greater understanding of why you are the way you are. Praised heavily upon its release, Carrie & Lowell remains a staple of 21st-century folk-rock, due to its masterful song writing, striking honesty and thematic execution that encapsulates the artistry of Sufjan Stevens.
Stevens’ greatest gift lies in his ability to suspend a listener in time, allowing them to immerse themselves in whatever observation, anecdote or allusion is existing within his music. Although only four projects were discussed in this piece, I highly recommend tackling his entire discography. The sonic and conceptual variety from 1999’s A Sun Came! to 2021’s A Beginner’s Mind is certain to lead to each listener discovering hidden gems that speak to them more than most. This quality of finding personal connections (that seem to speak to YOU, as an individual) within an artist’s catalogue is one of the most important aspects for many passionate music fans around the world. When an artist puts as much care into the emotional, sonic, and conceptual landscape of their music as Sufjan Stevens does, it's hard to argue his place as the most impassioned and essential American singer-songwriter of the 21st century.
Comments